Essex, UK

Greetings, you up-side-down aliens! Do you miss me yet? ("Huh? What? She left? …When?") Hmmm, I thought so. I know I promised to keep you all up to date with my other-worldly festivities, but alas, I must confess, my festivities have been minimal.

Nevertheless, I will continue to bore you senseless.

Upon touching down in a cold and drizzly London town, after probably the longest flight ever flown, 5 Aussie mates and I said "G'day" to a futuristic hostel known as the GENERATOR! (the kitchen was called 'The Fuel Room' Yum.) Needless to say, Oxford Street blew my hugely-intelligent Australian brains out. Just a quick shout out to my home girl Sophie P-man, who would've spent a lot of inheritance on this street full of Sophie-styled (offensively inappropriate) shops. (Perhaps Sophie belongs in London. Perhaps Sophie should come to London. Perhaps Sophie should come to London sooner than April and pack all my friends and my sweet heart Papa Hugs in her bag.) Anyway, as I was saying, there is absolutely no way the clothes sold in London could be worn anywhere other than a sauna (says the girl wearing every item of clothing she brought over, who can still be seen to shiver and sniffle on occasion.) After a scenic bus tour (shut up, I'm allowed to be as touristy as I want for the first 3 days in any new place I visit. That's the rule I made) things got very uneventful. Even New Years was a disappointment and a half. Apparently you need to be on a list to get into the few places that were open. Who would've known? Not me. Evidently.

We met some lovely German and Maltese tourists before heading off to our pseudo-homes. A cosy place by the name of Holmwood House is the location of my latest fort. "The driest place in England", officially known as Colchester (don't take that label to mean that it is dry in any sense of the word) is home to England's oldest castle (there will be pictures soon) and more recently, my snow man friend. He will soon become a 'real boy' and his carrot nose will feed entire villages with every lie. "Sarah and her snow man: Feeding the world's hungry."

I would have more to say, except for that my school (that's right, MY school) closed for the first week back due to the heavens opening up and covering my side of the world (that's right, MY side of the world) with billions of uniquely shaped dollops of frozen water. I would like to take this time to note that, as I haven't played in snow since I was a wee little tacker, I was surprised and elated to find it felt like what I imagine walking on corn flour would feel like, something I know Amelia would be very pleased to hear.

I'm not going to lie; boredom has struck me hard over the past few days as I have explored all I am willing to without freezing or getting lost for now. I have managed to buy a new skirt, scarf, and Alice in Wonderland pendant (to keep me thinking sensibly, as Alice would) at a little 'retro' store, commonly called 'Revolver'. Obviously, my saving money plan isn't working as I had originally planned. But worry not, I am keeping myself busy dancing around my room as to keep up with my moves (the trick is to shake your limbs around as though they're new to you. Other occasions call for you to be mad at the ground or go back to your pirate heritage. Thank you, Master McGee), reading over the lovely notes from home you've given me and obsessively cleaning.

Anyway, school is back today and I feel it is well and truly time to pummel some kids with snow balls. I hope you all had a perry perry Christmas (that's right, isn't it SJM?) and your lives have continued as normal despite my absence. ("Huh? What? She left? …When?")

Just quickly though, here are a few fond farewell memories from home: -The guardian angel Pandora my Nan gave me -The home made jewelry from my little cousin Bella, and the card from Gabby. -The cupcake Po (from Dickson Cakes) made me. He wrote 'England! Happy trip!' on it in icing. -The note SJM hid in my wallet -The 'good luck' Pandora from Sophie, as well as the one she took from her own bracelet and gave to me for the year, which I have to return when I get home. -On that, the Pandora bracelet from Mill and Kath, so that everyone could add to it. -The sewing kit my mum put together for me -The book SJM made and everyone's notes inside it -The card my family sent the day after I left -How excited my grandparents were when I called the other day -Note book from Ana which is getting used to death -The novel from Oprah's book club that mum posted to me about the horrors of drug addiction. -And about a million other little things that I just don't have time to add now, but will in time. (Wow, this was supposed to be a short list, but you've all been so nice it's practically never ending!)

Anyway, stay tuned. I'll try to add some entries that will keep you on the edge of your seat rather than put you to sleep in it.